Matthew Donahue, a popular culture professor, creates art cars using old records and magazines.
Those and other materials were donated from the Popular Culture Library and Music Library here at the University as well as from Goodwill and paint stores.
‘I have always been interested in cars and making collage art … so making an art car was just combining my two passions,’ Donahue said.
‘I recently published a book on my art cars titled ‘Taking It to the Streets: An Art Car Experience,” he added. ‘It features 25 postcards of different images of my art cars that I’ve made.’
According to his Web site, he has worked with a variety of mediums in the creative arts, including outsider art, two- and three-dimensional collage, and street photography.
The book is currently available at Grounds For Thought, the downtown coffee shop in Bowling Green, and on www.amazon.com.
Grounds For Thought owner Kelly Wicks said that he has been a fan of his collage work in the ’90s and the several music groups Donahue has been a part of.
‘Matt is a fine artist and we are glad to have him in this region, and like the work he does,’ Wicks said. ‘The book appeals to anyone in pop culture, or art students in particular, even car fans.’
He has created many art cars such as the Record Car, a car decorated with vinyl sound recordings and CDs in a collage style; the Breakfast Special, a car painted with bacon and egg smiley faces; Car Power, a car decorated with car magazine covers from the 1950s and ’60s; the Jackson Pollock, a car painted in a splatter paint style, inspired by Jackson Pollock; and many more.
‘I have exhibited these art cars at the largest art car exhibition in the world which takes place in Houston, Texas, since 1995, trying to participate almost every year and in many cases the only representative from Ohio,’ Donahue said. This exhibition features more than 300 art cars from around the country.
He is well recognized all around the nation for his art cars.
‘From the popularity of this event in Houston, other cities have started art car exhibitions such as Austin, Texas, Louisville, Seattle, and Baltimore,’ he said. ‘My art cars have been featured in these art car events as well.’
He has had the privilege working with all age groups while creating these pieces of art. He worked with the University’s School of Art in 1997, as well as Mark Moffet, a local artist. He has also worked with national artist David Best, and kids from the Boys and Girls Club.
‘I have worked with Special Needs Children in Glasgow, Scotland, and youth in Singapore,’ Donahue said.
For more information on him, log onto his Web site: www.md1210.com.
